Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-01-13
BYNAMUE's DEADLY WORK.
a Fatal Explosion OF Cartridges tu
PhiIRdelphin.

4 Philadelphia speciol says: 4 vivid
fash like a dart Of lightning from the >ky
lit mp the northwestern part Of the cliv al
s:17 O'Clock tonight Sunday. Before toe
flash Of light had vanished two sharp re-
porfS like Two quick claps OF thunder iol-
lowed. The light and the noise, which
lasted about eighteen seconds, were caused
hy the explosion Of box ~ dynamite
clrfridoeS which were stored in make
shift wooden shanty Standing on the vacant
lots on STILES street between TWcnty.nintb
and Tbiricih streets. The box contained
one gross Of the cartridges. and each
cartridge was one inch in diameter and
eight inches long. They resembled little
Roman-caudleS, aud the contents of the box
would have blown up $4,000 pounds Of
rock.
The dynamite was used TO blast the rock
on the ground where Contractor W. L.
Roberts was engaged in eXclyaiing The
banks q earth and rock for the purpose OF
orcciug twcnty.four dwclling-hous for
j. Il. WiGncr ana William l.. Elkins.
The loX wa, placed in the temporary store
house on Friday. and none Of the cartridges
led been removed The fresh box 81 *
Ulo~lycs was to have been used blythe bI,t-
fr~ tomorrow morning.
The only person known TO hive been
near the sblnty at TIE tiue of The explosion
VS. Patrick Powers, the Observation-Disclosures
II j. supposed that he was either in the
,haEtv or ju,t out.ide 81 n at tho time OF
the explosion. III. body was blown tilty
ffct 10 the cast Of the ,hanty. toward
TWcniy.nlnth street, and he fell fat on hi,
hack right in front oi the door OF another
,hanly. which is flied with powder, also
used for blasting. He must have been dead
before he reached the around. His scalp
was torn on and part Of his forehead
was blown away. His uplurned face was
black ~ pitch, and looked bllcber lying in
The snow. \ hole a. big as a small apple
was in The rlght side OF biz thrOlt. A piece
81 one Of the boards Of the ,hanty pierced
his right thigh. A stone that was ,Orn mp
ont Of the ground by the dynImte wa,
blown into hIs breast. end hi, stomach wa
perforated In twenty places by the tying
gravel. The white shirt was ripped from
his neck and bis throat left bare Is II
be had been in death struggle. 1hp
dead mans vest was ripped open and
cyGy button torn of, and the bat he worr
was blown into q hundred pieces and
looked like n lot OF gun-wlddinl. The
dead Watchman's hands were cinched.
teeth made his shattered. bleeding. black
onod face CHASTITY picture. with the freshly
fallen snow a. 4 background. \ hundred
teer from the body was found the oyercoat
which. it is supposed, be had thrown over
his shoulders. Biz piece, OF the cloth were
torn out on the shoulders and in the breast,
and one sleeve Of the cont. when picked
up. was IN shreds.
fffr In ttrhs Itrrta %
stored was ten ieet wide, fourteen feet
long, and eight feet high. IL was built OF
uuplaned hemlock bolrds. After the eX-
plosion there wasn't piece NJ wood a. blg
a. a lath to be found. Back on the bank.
100 feet from where the shlnty stood,
there were thousands OF splinters. none
Of them bigger than a lead pencil.
Where the shanty stood 100 little stakes,
a. thick ~ a Waihing-stick. were
driven into the ground 50 far that a man
could not get gIip on any Of them with
ms fingers. Right on the spot where the
floor OF the shanty stood was n hollow
place where the dirt and gravel had been
scraped up and shot in a shower up into
the air. and for 300 feet in area the snow
was 1ull Of little red holes made by the dirt
and stones in their descent.
Lying near the riddled body Of The
Waterman were bits OF boards. noue more
than q foot long and no wider thlu a car
peutcr's rule. The cause Of the explosion
Is % mystery. In the ndghbOrhood some
people thought that If was the work OF
brewers who are on strike. The shanly i
not more than i've hundred feet from one
OF the iTcwcries in Brewery Town. \
nan with lantern was seen running away
ju,t after The explosion